Railroad signal apparatus



(No M6661. 2 Sheets-Sheet1.

' G. N. REIPF.

RAILROAD SIGNAL APPARATUS No. 416,646. Patented D66. 3. 18869 mu? w u PETERS, Phntn-Lilhognpher. Waslningknn. n. a,

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2.

G. N. REII'F. Y RAILROAD SIGNAL APPARATUS.

N0. 416,646. Patented, D60. 3, 1669.

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PATENT OFFICE.

GUSTAVUS N. REIFF, OF EASTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILROAD SIG NAL APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of LettersPatent No. 416,646, dated December 3, 1889.

Application filed August 22, 1889. Serial No. 321,589. (No model.)

7 To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GUSTAVUS N. REIFF, of

Easton, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railroad Signal Apparatus, of which the follector, is illustrated in prior patentse. 9.,

my Letters Patent, No. 352,779, dated November 16, 1886, and is not broadly new with me.

Various .plans have heretofore been devised for the purpose ofobtaining the shifting connection between the operating-bar and the selector or appropriate one of the two signal-bars.

In Cummings Letters Patent of June 17, 1879, No. 216,510, for example, the signal-bars are laterally movable in a guide or containing box and are yoked to the transverselysliding shifting-bar, so that they may be moved bodily and together in the direction needed to bring the selected signal-bar into engagement with the. operating-bar, which latter has longitudinal movement only.

In Guerbers Letters Patent, No. 240,904, of May 3, 1881, the planadopted is to have the box slide bodily lengthwise and to combine therewith a shifting-bar which, while partaking of the longitudinal movement of the box, has an independent transverse movement, by which it may be brought into engagement with one or the other of the two signal-bars. In this arrangement the box itself takes the place of a separate operatingbar and the box, shifting-bar, and signal-bar engaged by the shifting-bar move longitudinally bodily and together.

In Hambays patent, No. 330,395, of November 17,1885, the box is. stationary, the signal-bars therein have longitudinal movement only, and the longitudinally-movable operating-bar engages and moves laterally with the shifting-bar, so that it may be brought into engagement with either one of the signal-bars. In this arrangement the shifting-bar is provided with hooks to engage the signal-bar, which is 'not engaged with the operating-bar, and an additional locking device is used to hold in fixed position the said idle signal-bar, said locking device composing, among other things, a locking-bar connected to the switch-rails.

In myown Letters Patent,"No. 352,779, here inbefore referred to, the box also is 'statione ary, the signal-bars'are capable of lengthwise movement only, and the longitudinally-movable operating-bar is connected to and moves with the transversely-sliding shifting-bar. In this arrangement there is a locking device for the idle signal-bar, which is connected to and actuated by the shifting-bar and acts to lock both signal-bars until the shifting-bar has fully completed its movement in one direction or the other, and there is also a central longitudinal rib between the two signalbars of such dimension that no shifting movement is possible until the operating-bar. has reached the extreme of its rearward movement.

My present invention involves the same general plan as that last referred to, excepting as to the locking device, and it is directed to improving and simplifying the construction of the parts, as well as to facilitating and rendering more certain their operation.

In my newadaptation the shifting-bar is superposed upon the signal-bars, instead of passing both above and below. them with a sort of yoke or strap-like connection. The rear ends of the signal-bars are supported in guideways below the shifting-bar, and are provided each with a shoulder which, when its signal-bar is in retracted position, is to the a rear of the shifting-bar, or of that portion of said shifting-bar which is designed to furnish a stop for said shoulder under certain circumstances, and in the under edge of the shifting-bar is formed a recess which is in register with said shoulder when, and only when, the operating-bar has been shifted laterally by said shifting-bar to the full extent and into full engagement with the signal-bar to which that shoulder pertains. In connection with this arrangement and construction of parts I make use of the longitudinal rib between the signal-bars, as in my Letters Patent hereinbefore' referred to; the object being to prevent the shifting operation from taking place until the operating-bar hasbeen fully drawn back. The operating-bar .i-tself engages and is carried by and guided in the shifting-bar at all times, whether during the shifting operation (at which time it moves with the shifting-bar) or during its own proper movement for operating one or the other of the signal-bars, (at which time it moves independently of the shifting-ban) and when moved forward for the purpose of advancing a signal-bar its forward end engages guides in the box, whereby the shifting-bar is still further assured from accidental displacement. Under this arrangement the shifting-bar can be removed and applied without disturbing or at all interfering with the signal-bars, the parts can be made of greater solidity and strength, and can be more certainly and efficiently guided and supported in their movement. I

In the accompanying drawings, Figure-l is a plan of the selector with the cover removed. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the selectorbox with the operative parts removed, the line of section being longitudinally through the guideway of one of the signal-bars. Fig. 3 is a cross-section on line 3 3, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a section on line 4 4, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the shifting-bar, partly broken away at one side to show the rear cross-strip of said bar. Fig. 6 is a plan of the box with the moving parts removed.

A is the box, having from front to rear two parallel guideways afor'thetwo signal-bars B.

A is the box-cover, which protects the parts and holds the shifting-bar 0 down in place. This shifting-bar fits and moves laterally in guide-slots b in the box. It is a rectangular skeleton frame having in it bearings cl, through which extends the operating-bar D. The cross-strips of this frame run at the bottom in guide-grooves (1', formed for it in the bottom of the box.

The longitudinal rib, hereinbefore referred to, between the two signal-bars is shown at a, bearing the same reference-letter as it does in my aforesaid Letters Patent. The signal-bars are of such length as to extend under the shifting-bar. Upon that portion of each signal-bar which comes behind the shifting-bar, or, rather, the front face of that bar, when the signal-bar is in its retracted position is found a shoulder 6, made in this instance by transversely grooving the signal-bar, so that said groove shall be in line with the front guidegroove d in the bottom of the box when the signal-bar is retracted. The under edge of the front of the shifting-bar traverses this groove, and so locks the signal-box in retracted position. To provide for the release of the signal-bar at the proper time, Iform in under edge of shifting-bar at a point directly under the front bearing d of the operatingbar D a recess f, of a size to permit the passage of the shoulder e, said recess being so located that it will not registerwith shoulder 6 until the shifting-bar has moved to its full exall other times the shoulder and recess are out of engagement and the signal-bar is incapable of forward movement.

The signal-bars project through suitable apertures in the front of the box. Each is provided at the proper point on its upper face with a hook-like projection g, which is adapted to engage a like projection on the under face of the overhanging head of the operating-bar, the engagement and disengagement of these parts being effected by lateral movement of the Operating-bar, due to movement of the shifting bar O,by which it is carried. a

The spaces between the central rib a and the adjoining walls of the box A form guideways of just sufficient width to admit the head of the operating-bar D. This head cannot enter either guideway until the shifting-bar has been fully moved to bring the recess f into register with the shoulder e of that signal-bar to which the guideway pertains and to bring the operating-bar into fullengagement with that signal-bar; and the length of each guideway is such that the head of the operating-bar, after having once entered it, cannot be withdrawn therefrom for the purpose of permitting the shifting-bar to operate until the operating-bar has first been fully retracted to the predetermined extent.

The slots 1) for the shifting-bar are open at the top, so as to permit the shifting-bar to be dropped down into and lifted out of place. The cover A, as before stated, holds the shifting-bar from rising after it has been placed in position.

The mode of connecting the parts toswitch and signal mechanism and of operating the same is well understood by those skilled in the art, and is fully set forth in the patents hereinbefore referred to, and it therefore requires no explanation here.

WVhat I claim herein as new and of my own invention is- 1. The selector-box provided with guideways therein for the signal-bars, in combination with the two signal-bars 13, each extending beneath the shifting-bar and provided with the locking-shoulder e and the projection g in advance of said locking-shoulder, the laterally-sliding shifting-bar C, placed over the signal-bars and having in its lower edge a recess f, and the operating-bar D, carried by and guided in the shifting-bar at all times, whether moving with or independently of the shifting-bar, and provided at its front end in advance of the shifting-bar with a head formed with a projection to engage the projection g on one or the other of the signalbars, all constructed and arranged to jointly operate in the manner herein shown and described.

2. The selector-box provided 'with guideways therein for the signal-bars and with the central longitudinal rib c, in combination IIO with the two signal-bars extending beneath I with a square head to operate in connection the shifting-bar and provided each with a with the rib c, as hereinbefore set forth. 1o locking-shoulder e, the lateraliy-sliding shift- In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in ing-bar placed over the signal-bars and havpresence of two witnesses.

ing a recess f in its under edge, and the op- GUSTAVUS N. REIFF. crating bar carried by and longitudinally Witnesses:

movable in the shifting-bar and adapted to C. HERsO'HEL KOYL,

interlock with the signal-bars, and provided GEO. FINLEY. 

